1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of wireless communication networks. In particular, the invention relates to a process for dynamically allocating resources for transmitting control and/or data messages, as well as for assigning such resources to distributed processing resources in a Base Station (BS) for processing each transmission.
2. Description of the Related Art
Allocating Radio Frequency Resources
Dedicating a particular radio frequency (RF) range as a control channel in a wireless communications network over which to exchange control messages, that, among other things, manage access to and use of traffic channels in the network for data transmission, lacks flexibility and may waste network resources. For example, the control channel must have sufficient bandwidth to carry control messages during peak usage periods in the wireless communications network, resulting in the control channel being underutilized in all but heavy or peak usage periods in the network. Conversely, if traffic demands on the network grow beyond expected peak usage rates, the control channel may, during such times, be over-utilized, resulting in periods during which data transmissions in the wireless communications network may be unnecessarily limited due to the inability to timely allocate RF resources for the data transmission.
Dynamically allocating an RF resource, for example, to transmit control information or user data, in a wireless communications network on an as needed basis, provides better flexibility and offers better utilization of the RF resources in the network. However, if there is no dedicated control channel in the wireless communications network to which a User Terminal (UT) is always tuned to listen for a page from a Base Station (BS), an issue arises as to how the UT or BS set up an RF resource for transmitting messages, whether control or data messages. Thus, the UT first needs to know over what RF resource to transmit a Random Access (RA) request, or over what RF resource to listen for a page from the BS. Furthermore, the UT needs to know over what RF resource to transmit a Page Response in response to the page, in order to set up yet another RF resource over which to exchange data or in-band messages with the BS in the communications network. Since the assignment and allocation of at least one RF resource is required to transmit data, it is advantageous for this dynamic RF resource allocation process to be as efficient as possible. (It should be noted that the term User Terminal, as used herein, refers to a user device or user equipment. Additionally, a user is a device or application attached to the UT, and a subscriber is a person or entity owning or using the user/UT.)
Allocating Base Station Hardware Resources
Efficient allocation and use of RF resources in a wireless communications network is important. However, the importance of efficient utilization of BS resources is also readily apparent. A traditional base station architecture utilizes a central processor to decide which RF resources, as well as BS hardware resources, are available for transmitting data, and sends a page message comprising, for example, a page identifier, of a UT being paged and the location (e.g., radio frequency spectrum) of the available RF resources. An alternative BS architecture is based on a distributed processing architecture that comprises, for example, multiple Digital Signal Processors (DSPs). In such a BS, RF resources are assigned to a particular DSP for transmitting a stream and then released. (A stream is defined herein as a series of RF data bursts, or data packets). It would be desirable for the distributed DSPs to operate independently with respect to each other, otherwise a central processor with signal paths to each DSP is necessary to coordinate operation of the DSPs, with the concomitant processing overhead associated therewith. However, with independent operation of the DSPs, there arises the problem of assigning a particular RF resource to a particular DSP for transmitting a series of RF data bursts. Without the DSPs first exchanging information among each other about their state, e.g., active, idle, etc., the question arises which DSP should be assigned to, and process, the RF resource.